Guides
Growing guides
Species-specific, practical guidance. We start with the plants that cause the most trouble, because that is where a guide is actually worth reading.
Overview
10 medicinal herbs to grow at home, ranked by difficulty
The honest ranking — which are foolproof, which have one specific catch, and which three need a month in the refrigerator before they will cooperate.
Technique
Cold stratification: the four-week step that fixes stubborn seed
The refrigerator method step by step, which species actually need it, how long each one takes, and what to do when mould appears.
Hard · Perennial
How to Grow Echinacea From Seed (Without the Patchy Germination)
Purple coneflower is a genuinely rewarding perennial that most people get wrong at the very first step. The fix costs nothing and takes four weeks of doing nothing.
Hard · Perennial
How to Grow Lavender From Seed (And Why Professionals Usually Do Not)
If one packet in a herb kit disappoints you, it will probably be the lavender. That is the species behaving normally, and it is worth understanding why before you blame yourself.
Guides for the remaining species are being written. We would rather publish two good ones than ten thin ones.